Marco- Polo!

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Cyclists in Corvallis Spend Evenings Playing a Unique Sport


Polo is a sport I’m sure we’ve all at least heard of, but what about bike polo?

Hardcourt bike polo is a recently popular sport around the world. It was invented in Seattle in ‘98 by messengers who had free time in between deliveries. It’s played three on three and everyone has a bike and a mallet. The goal is to use your mallet to hit the ball into the opposing team's goal. The ball is made of a heavy plastic to keep it on the ground easier. You can play using a normal bike, but in tournaments the bike frame is smaller and the wheels are stronger to protect against the ball. Often times you’ll see people put a cover on their wheels as well to prevent the ball from getting caught in the wheel. Bike polo is unique in many ways, one way is that there is no girl or boy teams. They mix men, women, and all identifications into this game.

The rules to bike polo are what makes this game tricky. You can’t put your feet on the ground and if you do you have to go back to the center to reset. Other than that, it’s basically just street hockey on bikes.

If that piques your interest at all, you can find this group at the tennis courts at Lincoln elementary. Those are located at SE Debord and SE Alexander Ave. in south town Corvallis. They meet at 6:30 on Tuesdays.

This group welcomes you to come give bike polo a try- no experience required! Extra bikes and safety gear is available for newcomers as well.

On Tuesdays at 6:30pm you can find a game of Bike Polo heating up. The game is played three on three and welcomes all to come play- no experience required! Extra bikes and safety gear is available for newcomers. The tennis courts it's played on is located at SE Debord and SE Alexander Ave by Lincoln Elementary school in Corvallis.













Mikey Anderson is showing off this special bike polo bicycle. Bike Polo bicycles have a smaller frame, stronger tires, and a wheel cover to keep the ball from getting caught inside the wheel.











Trevor Heald shoots the ball past Kirk Giuliani, or his preferred name Captain Kirk. Kirk has been in numerous bike polo tournaments around the state and bikes on his free time as well. The rules to Bike Polo are what make this game tricky. You can't touch the ground with your feet at any point or else you have to go the middle and start again!


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